Skanda Purana — Nagara Khanda, Shloka 32

Devanagari script

अत्रस्थस्य प्रभावो यस्तव पर्वत नंदन । मद्वाक्यात्तत्र संस्थस्य कोटिसंख्यो भविष्यति

Transliteration

atrasthasya prabhāvo yastava parvata naṃdana | madvākyāttatra saṃsthasya koṭisaṃkhyo bhaviṣyati

Translation

O Nandana, son of the mountain, the spiritual potency that is yours while you abide here—by my very word—will become millionfold for one who remains established in that place.

Word by Word

• atra-sthasya: of one who is here / of the resident here
• atra-sthasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: atra (अव्यय) + stha (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: Samāsa: avyayībhāva/tatpuruṣa sense ‘situated here’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine/Generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• prabhāvaḥ: power / efficacy
• prabhāvaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhāva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• yaḥ: which / who
• yaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: Sarvanāma (Relative pronoun), Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• tava: your
• tava: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम)
• Form: Sarvanāma (Pronoun), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• parvata: O mountain
• parvata: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana (Singular)

• nandana: O delighting one / O son (of the mountain)
• nandana: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nandana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Sambodhana (Vocative), Ekavacana (Singular)

• mat-vākyāt: from my words / by my statement
• mat-vākyāt: Apādāna (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mad (प्रातिपदिक सर्वनाम) + vākya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Samāsa: ṣaṣṭhī-tatpuruṣa ‘from my statement/word’; Napuṃsakaliṅga (Neuter), Pañcamī-vibhakti (Ablative, 5th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya; deśa-avyaya (locative adverb)

• saṃsthasya: of one who stays there
• saṃsthasya: Sambandha (Genitive qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: saṃ-√sthā (धातु) → saṃstha (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Present participial/derived adjective ‘standing/being situated’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine/Generic), Ṣaṣṭhī-vibhakti (Genitive, 6th), Ekavacana (Singular)

• koṭi-saṃkhyaḥ: counted in crores / of crore-number
• koṭi-saṃkhyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (Predicate adjective of prabhāvaḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: koṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Samāsa: tatpuruṣa ‘having number of crores’; Puṃliṅga (Masculine), Prathamā-vibhakti (Nominative, 1st), Ekavacana (Singular)

• bhaviṣyati: will be
• bhaviṣyati: Kriyā (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (Simple Future), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd person), Ekavacana (Singular), Parasmaipada

Speaker

Indra (Śakra) (deduced)

Tirtha Mahatmya

Type: kshetra

Visual Art Cues

Scene: Indra proclaims that the mountain’s inherent potency, when relocated, becomes millionfold for those who remain there—visualized as a radiant aura expanding outward, enveloping pilgrims who sit in meditation within the kṣetra.

Characters & Entities

• Indra (implied)
• Parvata-nandana (mountain-born)
• Prabhāva

FAQs

What is the primary spiritual lesson of this shloka?

Faithful residence in a sanctified place magnifies spiritual benefit; divine sanction (a deva’s word) confirms the tīrtha’s extraordinary efficacy.

Which specific holy site (Tirtha) is glorified here?

The immediate tīrtha-region described in Nāgara Khaṇḍa, Adhyāya 9, whose prabhāva is being proclaimed to the mountain-born figure.

What ritualistic prescription is mentioned?

The verse emphasizes ‘staying/abiding’ (saṃsthāna) as the practice; no separate snāna/dāna/japa is explicitly stated.